Indiana Pacers forward T.J. Leaf (22) runs back down the court after making a basket during the fourth quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena.(Photo: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports)

After two games with the developmental league's Fort Wayne Mad Ants, first-year forward T.J. Leaf was reassigned to the Indiana Pacers on Friday. He showed out in three G-League games, averaging 23.3 points and 8.3 rebounds. He shot 53.8 percent from 3-point range and 57.4 percent overall. All numbers that could be expected of a No. 18 overall draft pick.

But Pacers coach Nate McMillan hasn’t watched any film from those games yet, and probably won’t anytime soon. He’s seen the box scores, but hardly cares about what they say either. Leaf’s response to the G-League assignment stood out as much as anything.

When asked if he’d expected to be sent down this year, the UCLA product was quick to answer: “I was expecting to do whatever the management thought was best for me. As long as it’s going to help me get better, that’s what I want to do.”

McMillan likes that.

“Yes. I do. We do respect that,” McMillan said. “Some guys feel they’re above (the G-League). His thing was, ‘It was good to play and get some minutes.’ … That’s what these guys love to do, is play basketball. That’s the purpose of sending him down there.”

Minutes had slowly dwindled for Leaf this season. He was a rotational fixture through eight games, given 16.2 minutes per game and the room to take five shots a night.

Indiana Pacers draft pick T.J. Leaf's family, his brother Troy, left, his father Brad, center, and his mother Karen, right, sit in on a press conference at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Friday, June 23, 2017. Michelle Pemberton/IndyStar

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Leaf's shooting has been respectable, at 45.9 percent overall. That puts him ahead of Lance Stephenson and behind Darren Collision. His defense, though, is a noted weak spot. His defensive box plus-minus, a basketball-reference.com stat that tries to estimate overall effectiveness, is 11th on the team — ahead of Alex Poythress and Joe Young.

That pushed McMillan to tighten the rotation. So Leaf was demoted to the Mad Ants after his contributions fell to 5.6 minutes and 1.6 field goal attempts over an eight-game stretch.

Some players have been rubbed the wrong way by similar demotions. Back in 2014, Solomon Hill — who was deservedly upset about not being played during a fourth quarter — questioned the value of his Fort Wayne trip.

“That just makes me think about my next trip, if I want to go back down there,” Hill said in a Pacers.com interview. “I'm kind of not tempted to go back down there now just because if I go down there and play 25 minutes after a two-hour drive, it's like, am I really developing?"

Leaf got plenty of playing time during his trip and feels like he’s making progress. McMillan generally agrees, but says there’s still a lot of work to be done. The Mad Ants, Leaf said, play an offensive system similar to the Pacers. Defense is another story.

“It forces you to get down and defend,” he said, adding that he enjoyed matching up with some quicker guards. “I think it’s something that I obviously need to work on.”

As long as Leaf knows that, McMillan says there's no need to worry.

“We know that he can score the ball,” McMillan said. “We want to see him defend and continue to work on, certainly scoring, but really his first year is about just playing.

"There’s no pressure, no expectations, other than getting out there to play.”

Three things to know about Pacers vs. Nets, 7 p.m. Saturday at Bankers Life

Players on the Indiana Pacers bench react to a call involving Indiana Pacers guard Lance Stephenson (1) during second half action between the Indiana Pacers and Brooklyn Nets in the home opener at Banker's Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2017. The Pacers won, 140-131. (Photo: Jenna Watson/IndyStar)

1. The Nets are trending way, way down over their last four games — all losses — ahead their Friday game against the Wizards. Their scoring has dipped to 96.8 points per game over this stretch, and their defense has basically fallen apart. They're giving up 111 points per.

2. The Pacers have pretty comfortably won two games against the Nets this season. Their matchup in the season opener was a glorious show of pace and absurd scoring as the Pacers won 140-131. The Pacers won Sunday’s meeting 109-97 as Victor Oladipo scored 26.

3. Speaking of Oladipo, he has been the high scorer in each of the Pacers’ last four games (26 vs. Detroit, 26 vs. Brooklyn, 38 vs. Boston, 23 vs. Atlanta). As All-Star voting began Friday, teammates were campaigning for Oladipo’s spot on the Eastern Conference's roster.

"Oh yeah," said Darren Collison. "He should be an All-Star starter. I tink he deserves it. Since Day 1, he's been the leader that we've asked him to be. He should be a starter."